Product Design Innovation MA

Study level: Postgraduate
two male students looking at colourful product designs on a design sheet

Our Product Design Innovation course aims to prepare you for global employment as creative, innovative and strategic problem solvers.

Year of entry

Location

Coventry University (Coventry)

Study mode

Full-time
Part-time

Duration

1 year full-time
2 years part-time
16-24 months (with professional experience)

Course code

AHT042

Start date

September 2025
January 2026
May 2026

At Coventry University, we continuously review the courses we offer to ensure we reflect industry-relevant emerging best practice and technology. As a result, this course is undergoing continuous improvement assessment and will be launched with a renewed curriculum starting in September 2025. Module content and titles will be updated. Course title, learning outcomes and assessments may also change. We expect our new curriculum to be fully updated by January 2025. Please return to this page to see the final course details.


Course overview

You will be expected to work collaboratively in an internationalised, cross-disciplinary and transcultural context. The focus of the course is on employing research and critical and creative thinking skills to solve complex 3D design problems, with imagination and insight.

  • Research and critical and creative thinking are at the heart of all projects, as is ensuring you recognise sustainable and ethical approaches.
  • You will have the option to apply for a ‘professional experience’ opportunity2, designed to further develop your skills and knowledge with the aim of maximising your employability prospects. See the ‘Modules’ section for more information.
A star in the centre of a rosette.

Rated Gold Overall

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023

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5 QS Stars for Teaching and Facilities

QS Stars University Ratings

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Top 5 Student City in England (Coventry)

QS Best Student Cities Index 2025

Why you should study this course

You will be guided towards creative, imaginative and innovative ways of problem-solving and investigation.

We aim to provide you with multiple options for the expression of creative explorations, including academic writing, multi-media outcomes, model making, oral and visual presentations, digital portfolios and online content.

Key features of the course are the opportunities for working with live client projects2 and where possible, Collaborative Online International Learning projects (COIL)2.

  • Specialist design studios4 feature drawing tables, presentation equipment and wireless internet access, supported by a dedicated print bureau for 2D outputs up to A0 size and the CSAD Art Shop.
  • Extensive facilities4 include state-of-the-art laser cutting, rapid prototyping, desktop CNC milling, 3D printing facilities, paint spraying, scanners, two large block material workshops and handwork shops.
  • Computing suites4 offer modelling, animation and analysis software, as well as graphic and word-processing packages, including Alias, Maya, Adobe Creative Suite, Rhino, Vector works, RAMSIS and Jack ergonomics software. Visualisation is supported with software such as Bunkspeed, Showcase and VRED.

Coventry Degree Show 2023

The Coventry Degree Show is an annual event to celebrate and showcase our graduating students’ work.

Explore the work of our talented students
Degree show 2023

What you'll study

During semester 1 you will focus on collaborative learning experiences and the development of a community of postgraduate learning.

It will focus on creative processes, user contexts and provide a theoretical and practical introduction to academic standards of research and ethics which are core to level 7 study. This is parallel to the first specialist module where you will be expected to personally reflect on prior knowledge, experience and aspirations and think about future goals.

In semester 2, you will critically develop your specialist practice/interests and start to question where personal boundaries and creative activities can be furthered or built upon at postgraduate level. You will work closely with peers and consider your own practice in a professional context. Importantly, you will, through negotiation and mentorship, begin to develop a clear and research-inspired project focus for your Final Project, which takes place in semester 3.

Structured around the three themes of communication, collaboration and creativity, we focus on the design of products that interface directly with people and are manufactured through methods of mass production. Within competitive markets, the ability to interpret and manage ‘user’ perception and expectations is just as important within the overall design process, as the functional, operational and production considerations.

Modules

With professional experience option

The professional experience opportunity2 enables you the opportunity to apply for optional professional experience in semester 1, which, upon successfully securing an opportunity, will extend the duration of your master’s to either 16, 20 or 24 months. The professional experience provides an opportunity for you to develop expertise and experience in your chosen field with the aim of enhancing your employability.

Please note that the optional professional experience modules incur an additional tuition fee, for which 1 semester of professional experience is £1,333.33, for 2 semesters of professional experience is £2666.67, and for 3 semesters of professional experience is £4,000.

Professional experience may also be subject to additional costs, visa requirements being met, subject to availability and/or competitive application. Professional experience opportunities are not guaranteed but you will benefit from the support of our Talent Team in trying to find and secure an opportunity. Find out more about the professional experience option.

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.


How you'll learn

Our teaching methods include a combination of:

  • medium group teaching: workshops, seminars and lectures
  • group teaching: seminars, critiques and tutorials
  • studio practice and bookable workshop access

The School of Art and Design often provides opportunities to engage in external or collaborative activities such as competition/Industry briefs and speakers beyond your course studies2. We strongly encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities when they arise, to support your learning journey.

This course can be offered on a part-time basis. Whilst we would like to give you all the information about our part-time offering here, it is tailored for each course each year depending on the number of part-time applicants. Therefore, the part-time teaching arrangements vary. Request further information about part-time study.


Teaching contact hours

The number of contact hours may vary from semester to semester, however, on average, it is likely to be around 13 contact hours per week.

Additionally, you will be expected to undertake significant (approx. 20-30 hours) self-directed study each week, depending on the demands of individual modules.

As an innovative and enterprising institution, the university may seek to utilise emerging technologies within the student experience. For all courses (whether on-campus, blended, or distance learning), the university may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via online technologies and methods.

Since COVID-19, we have delivered our courses in a variety of forms, in line with public authority guidance, decisions, or orders and we will continue to adapt our delivery as appropriate. Whether on campus or online, our key priority is staff and student safety.


Assessment

This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which will vary depending upon the module.

Assessment methods include:

  • Group work
  • Presentations
  • Reports
  • Projects
  • Coursework
  • Individual Assignments

The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.


International experience opportunities

Coventry University’s School of Art and Design typically has a multinational population and you may therefore have the opportunity to work alongside students from all over the globe.

We see this as a particular strength of the course as it could enable you to work alongside students from differing cultural backgrounds and design perspectives. It aims to give you the experience of working collaboratively and cross-culturally. The capacity to work across cultural and disciplinary boundaries is becoming an essential skill in our ever-more interconnected world.

Collaborative learning may include exchange lectures by international academics and visiting tutors from our link universities in the UK and abroad2. Many of our courses run Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) projects allowing you to develop cultural connections and global design sensitivity with students from other universities from around the world2.


Entry requirements

Applicants should normally have an undergraduate degree in design or engineering.

Non-design applicants can be accepted on the basis of evidence of projects or activities that signal a creative, problem-solving ability. 

We recognise a breadth of qualifications; speak to one of our advisers today to find out how we can help you.

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Portfolio

No portfolio will be required if the academic qualifications in the subject area as defined above are met.

If a portfolio is required it should feature a maximum of approximately 10-15 examples of work or three to four projects undertaken within the past two years, these should be major, substantial, in-depth projects which demonstrate the ability to conceptualise solutions to creative problems, and to assimilate and combine written language or content with the visual. This will clearly demonstrate the level of creative, craft and production skills achieved, either in a previous course of study or in a professional design studio, as a freelance designer or during an internship2.

Projects should ideally be accompanied by a brief summary of the work or projects, notes on the software used, and dated. As a graphic designer a genuine, demonstrable interest in typography and good typographic skills is required beyond the basic level.

Select your region to find detailed information about entry requirements:

You can view our full list of country specific entry requirements on our Entry requirements page.

Alternatively, visit our International hub for further advice and guidance on finding in-country agents and representatives, joining our in-country events and how to apply.

Typical entry requirements

Applicants should normally have an undergraduate degree in design or engineering.

Non-design applicants can be accepted on the basis of evidence of projects or activities that signal a creative, problem-solving ability.

Portfolio

No portfolio will be required if the academic qualifications in the subject area as defined above are met.

If a portfolio is required it should feature a maximum of approximately 10-15 examples of work or three-four projects undertaken within the past two years, these should be major, substantial, in-depth projects which demonstrate the ability to conceptualise solutions to creative problems, and to assimilate and combine written language or content with the visual. This will clearly demonstrate the level of creative, craft and production skills achieved, either in a previous course of study or in a professional design studio, as a freelance designer or during an internship2.

Projects should ideally be accompanied by a brief summary of the work or projects, notes on the software used, and dated. As a graphic designer a genuine, demonstrable interest in typography and good typographic skills is required beyond the basic level.

English language requirements

  • IELTS: 6.5 overall, with no component lower than 5.5. 

If you don't meet the English language requirements, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course. For more information on our approved English language tests visit our English language requirements page.

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Fees and funding

Student Full-time Part-time
UK, Ireland*, Channel Islands or Isle of Man 2025/26 fees TBC
2024/25 fees - £11,200 | £15,200 (with prof. experience)  
Request fee information  
EU 2025/26 fees TBC
2024/25 fees - £11,200 | £15,200 (with prof. experience) per year with EU Support Bursary**
2025/26 fees TBC
2024/25 fees - £18,600 | £22,600 (with prof. experience) per year without EU Support Bursary**
Not available
International 2025/26 fees TBC
2024/25 fees - £18,600 | £22,600 (with prof. experience)  
Not available

For advice and guidance on tuition fees3 and student loans visit our Postgraduate Finance page.

We offer a range of international scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.

Tuition fees3 cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them.

The following are additional costs not included in the tuition fees:

  • Any optional overseas field trips or visits: £400+ per trip.
  • Any costs associated with securing, attending or completing a placement (whether in the UK or abroad).

*Irish student fees

The rights of Irish residents to study in the UK are preserved under the Common Travel Area arrangement. If you are an Irish student and meet the residency criteria, you can study in England, pay the same level of tuition fees as English students and utilise the Tuition Fee Loan.

**EU Support Bursary

Following the UK's exit from the European Union, we are offering financial support to all eligible EU students who wish to study an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree with us full-time. This bursary will be used to offset the cost of your tuition fees to bring them in line with that of UK students. Students studying a degree with a foundation year with us are not eligible for the bursary.


Facilities

Our aim is to offer you sector-leading facilities in a dedicated environment4.

The Delia Derbyshire complex includes a hyper studio designed for cross-disciplinary projects and immersive studios with cutting-edge virtual reality and mixed-reality technologies.

Student using the facilities in the digital design workshop

Design workshops

Our digital and printing workshops bring your ideas to life through different media4. You’ll find a high-powered laser cutter, 3D printers, scanners and traditional print-making and making workshops for etching, silk-screen printing, relief printing, ceramics, metalwork and woodwork, as well as a generously stocked letterpress room.

Student in a Mac studio

PC and Mac suites

Maximise your learning in our cutting-edge computer suites4. You'll have access to PCs and Macs running the latest industry-standard software needed for your course, including graphic design packages such as Adobe Creative Suite.


 

Student and lecturer working in studio

Studio-centric working

In the School of Art and Design, we structure our teaching and assessment methods to replicate the creative industry's ways of working, as we aim to create a studio-centric working environment.

 


 


Careers and opportunities

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

  • undertake research and evaluative reflection in order to synthesise and articulate an advanced knowledge of the theoretical and thematic concerns within product design and innovation practice
  • deploy skills, techniques and technologies with originality and imagination in relation to a defined discipline for continued product design and innovation practice at an advanced level
  • realise complex and ambitious artefacts/projects for identified and diverse audiences and contexts
  • contribute to the shaping of a global contemporary discourse by engaging with innovative, experimental, hybrid and creative approaches to design practice
  • demonstrate advanced personal skills, judgement and critical awareness enabling problem-solving and innovation applicable to a wide range of creative, professional, social and collaborative contexts
  • critically and creatively engage industrial design insights and experience to manage innovative design activity and effective stakeholder/professional engagement.

This course encourages you to develop your ability to design products with significant engineering or technological content, to optimise solutions for specific consumer and professional markets, and develop products which delight end users.

It is designed to prepare you for leadership and decision-making positions within product design agencies, manufacturing companies, design consultancies, research and development departments, research institutions and government bodies.

Professional enhancement is central to our ethos which is why we encourage collaboration with industry practitioners and work on ‘live’ briefs2.

Upon completion of your final major project, you will have the chance to take part in a degree show2.

Where our graduates work

Recent graduates have gone on to win design posts in prestigious international companies, including:

  • Lenovo – (Designer) China
  • Asus – (Designer) Taiwan
  • JbnJaws Production (Creative Lead) India
  • TC Product quality people (Product Development Technician) UK
  • Inclusive Product Design (Freelance Designer) UK
  • Central Academy of Fine Art (Lecturer) China
  • Shanghai Design Agency - (Designer) China
  • Heshan Qing Ye Weaving (Manager) China
  • Tata Interactive Systems (Designer) Germany
  • Les Sismo (Product Designer) Paris

How to apply